(CNN) -- This summer, a group of University of Kentucky students and staff has been patrolling campus grounds -- scouting out any student, employee or visitor lighting a cigarette.

Unlike hall monitors who cite students for bad behavior, the Tobacco-free Take Action! volunteers approach smokers, respectfully ask them to dispose of the cigarette and provide information about quit-smoking resources available on campus.

The University of Kentucky is one of more than 500 college campuses across the country that have enacted 100% smoke-free or tobacco-free policies as of July 1. Although policy enforcement varies from school to school, most prohibit smoking on all campus grounds, including athletic stadiums, restaurants and parking lots.

An increasing number of colleges adopted smoke-free or tobacco-free policies in the past few years, according to American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation Project Manager Liz Williams. In the past year alone, 120 campuses were added to the smoke-free list.

The same college administrators that are pushing a smoke free campus were probably partying, putting headbands on, doing drugs, listening to the damn Beatle albums, and were the biggest pot heads on campus back during the ‘glorious’ late 60’s early 70’s.

This is going to go over like a lead balloon. When my kids were in college I was amazed at the number of students that smoked, far greater that the general population. The only group that I know of that has a higher percentage of smokers is restaurant kitchen help.

Just so I’m clear: I oppose any and all smoking bans for the usual private property and consenting adult reasons but especially because the bans are usually passed by bluenoses who haven’t been in a bar or restaurant in years.

Local bars are quite different from cookie-cutter restaurants with their canned intro lines and lame suggestive selling. Apparently this causes nicotine cravings in their early-20s complement of employees.

I did enjoy the Ohio smoking ban debacle in which they had no enforcement personnel and open defiance by many establishments. In true bureaucrat fashion they responded by threatening to withhold liquor license renewals.

A question for the smokers here expressing outrage about this: when you eventually wind up with COPD, heart disease, or one of the several cancers caused by tobacco use, will you pay your own astronomical healthcare costs out of pocket, or will you force us nonsmokers to pay for your choice to destroy your own body via our insurance?

That is not such an unusual memory, I remember when everybody smoked, everywhere, all the time. Doctors offices, hospitals, movie theaters on buses, trains and planes. It was acceptable behavior, a non smoker never even considered asking anyone to step outside.

or will you force us nonsmokers to pay for your choice to destroy your own body via our insurance?

I would.

Just as I'm expected to pay for the morbidly obese, anorexics, alcoholics, people who engage in risky sports, jockeys who could get trampled by a horse, and busybody pecksniffs who routinely get the crap beaten out of them by normal people.

Yes, everyone eventually succumbs to something and dies. But it is simple fact that horrible lifestyle choices like smoking, obesity, and alcohol abuse result in chronic illness that is outrageously expensive to treat and lasts decades. Live healthy, and you stand an excellent chance of living a long life with a much shorter period of illness at the very end.

I work in healthcare (emergency medicine) and I see this stuff every day. The costs of personal lifestyle choices and the burden it puts on our healthcare system are mind boggling.

Yes, everyone eventually succumbs to something and dies. But it is simple fact that horrible lifestyle choices like smoking, obesity, and alcohol abuse result in chronic illness that is outrageously expensive to treat and lasts decades. Live healthy, and you stand an excellent chance of living a long life with a much shorter period of illness at the very end.

I work in healthcare (emergency medicine) and I see this stuff every day. The costs of personal lifestyle choices and the burden it puts on our healthcare system are mind boggling.

A question for the smokers here expressing outrage about this: when you eventually wind up with COPD, heart disease, or one of the several cancers caused by tobacco use, will you pay your own astronomical healthcare costs out of pocket, or will you force us nonsmokers to pay for your choice to destroy your own body via our insurance?

Neither. We will go on a week-long shooting spree, taking out as many nonsmokers as possible.

Not smoking cigarettes is VERY unhealthy.

36
posted on 08/31/2011 7:59:08 AM PDT
by Lazamataz
(If Hitler had been as lazy as Obama, the 1940's would have been a very nice decade!!)

Depends on how much I’ve had to drink and if the pizza lands crust first on the sidewalk.

But seriously, if you’re asking me to approve of workers whose job SPECIFICALLY involves the handling of food, glassware, cutlery etc. avoiding hand-washing especially after smoking or being outdoors I’m afraid we’ll have to agree to disagree. The play-the-percentages game may be an amusing diversion but if a waitress can’t be bothered to wash out of courtesy as opposed to some nanny state edict I probably won’t be back.

If I had the option of signing on to a basic health insurance plan that doesn’t cover alchohol, tobacco, drug, or obesity related chronic illness, I would. Then I really couldn’t care less how someone else chooses to ruin their body.

A question for the smokers here expressing outrage about this: when you eventually wind up with COPD, heart disease, or one of the several cancers caused by tobacco use, will you pay your own astronomical healthcare costs out of pocket, or will you force us nonsmokers to pay for your choice to destroy your own body via our insurance?

A question for the statists here who support restrictions such as this: when you are old and feeble, suffering from alzheimers and must wear diapers and be fed by someone else and totally dependent upon others for the simplest of tasks, will you pay your own astronomical health care costs out of pocket, or will you force us smokers, who you people claim live shorter lives, to pay for your choice to out live your usefulness via our insurance?

As a rule, it would be nice if people with food related jobs wash their hands, I’ll give you that. I’m just more of a realist. People get behind in their work and hand washing is the first thing that goes out the window. It might not be proper, or legal, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

One thing you said got me to thinking...
If you’re sober, and a slice of pizza lands on the floor (tile, and appearing clean, in this example) crust down, you wouldn’t observe the 5 second rule?

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